Leaf Bag Season 2024

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Happy growing!

[@Duskbear]

You know you're thinking straight when you're jealous of someone's fall leaf haul

[@trumpetingangel]

Me too! The local towns that used to require bags have switched to vacuuming them off the side of the street. No bags around here to collect! I've only got 3, would like 20! I'll have to buy hay.

[@d33671]

After my 4 tonne bags this year I actually feel sort of ok watching this, just telling myself, "I got enough, yeah, I'm sure I did"

[@Dirt-Fermer]

@@trumpetingangel ya, they could literally dump them in the ditches to save on maintenance costs in the warm seasons but they’d rather mow every ditch endlessly and toss the leaf bits in a landfill

[@Return_to_Roots]

My thoughts exactly

[@edibleacres]

Ha!

[@artistlovepeace]

I love your channel and your mission! You are always positive and honest. Love you!

[@edibleacres]

Really appreciate this! Folks should never ever feel a pressure to send a 'tip' along but it certainly keeps us motivated to make time and put energy towards documenting all this stuff. Thanks for the kind words!

[@hc3021]

“Thanks, leaves.” Love it. We should all be vocally thanking our gardens more. 💙

[@andybuddy9052]

Saving these leaves from being shredded is so important. Saves the pollinators that have laid eggs on them. Thank you!

[@JayByrdJ]

Thanks Leaves . Great work and new designs , thanks for sharing

[@cuznclive2236]

Thank you.

[@flowerpixel]

I take all of neighbors leaves!!! They're beautiful. Thanks leaves 🍁🍂

[@edibleacres]

Awesome!

[@BackyardBerry]

I use the leaves from the pin oak, silver maple, catalpa, pin cherry and hackberry trees in my yard for everything now that you’ve inspired me to see things differently. Not only is it an important carbon material for your chicken compost, but leaving them whole (rather than chopped up) for the garlic is beneficial for the lifecycle of so many insects (like skippers and fireflies). Leaving at least a portion of the leaves whole is a minimal but thoughtful step to aid in the lifecycle of the smaller members of our ecosystem. Y’all are awesome. Much love from KY.

[@edibleacres]

Nice reminder to leave things whole... Saves time and is a closer picture of what nature does!

[@BackyardBerry]

@ didn’t even think about saving time but that’s another benefit. Thanks for sharing Sean.

[@ausfoodgarden]

Wow! Leaf bag season. Down here in Australia people just dump them in their green bins (picked up and hopefully used to make compost) Or leave them for local authorities to sweep up. We rake up and take our neighbors' leaves away to use, they are happy for us to do that. We make leaf mold, use them as a mulch, and sometimes add them to create compost. We are in a suburban environment so can only do so much. Great video.👍

[@NathanBuckland-m5n]

Sean! Hey! Leggo my leaf bags!!! We had 12" plus of heavy wet snow on our hill in Chemung Co. yesterday. One of our nearby towns requests the residents use clear leaf bags. We get to see the quality and variety of the leaves and get a year's supply of bags as a bonus. Fellow gardeners are finally catching on, so the competition is fast and furious, but all great fun. Thanks for all the time and effort you guys put into this channel.

[@edibleacres]

Nasty that the town needs it in plastic, but yeah, if you get leaves in plastic bags you get free garbage bags... We would save those and use them for wrapping trees for shipping when it happened.

[@NathanBuckland-m5n]

@edibleacres Truth! The bags strike me as so odd. Especially since they likely have the opportunity to use shared services with other communities that gather the leaves and make compost for everyone to take free. But really, it would be best if there was little to none pick up, and the leaves were left under the trees. Don't you think?

[@poodledaddles1091]

Yep my husband and I just picked up about 40 bags of leaves. We are still loving the orange poly rake you recommended for mulch years earlier!

[@edibleacres]

Glad you enjoy that rake and sounds like some nice collecting going on!

[@wigglehe]

I love your gratitude.

[@edibleacres]

Thank you! :)

[@louielouielouee]

Fantastic video 🙏🏼

[@edibleacres]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@peterellis4262]

Big kid jumping on the leaf pile :)

[@rickthelian2215]

Good leaf collection 😊

[@edibleacres]

Thank you so much 🙂

[@gonnagetya1433]

I just run the leaves through the lawn mower, really reduces their bulk and prevents the leaves from 'layering'. Have heard of people setting them on fire by trying to go too aggressive on mowing them, but I just do light runs on the lawn. It mixes the leaves with the green grass and they break down quite fast. I put them around the rhubarb and in the spring there will be thousands of night crawlers where I put the leaves and nice rich soil. Benefits the soil and lots of bait for fishing.

[@edibleacres]

We do that to some extent at our larger site where final mowing is helpful and why not collect fallen leaves while mowing (riding mower with bagger system). It creates a phenomenal material. At this scale, if we shredded it all it would get so hot in composting it would hurt the microbes so it's better to leave whole :)

[@racebiketuner]

I got 178 bags before the rain started yesterday. I don't live in snow county, so hopefully more to come in the next few weeks. I got 186 bags last year and could have used more!

[@edibleacres]

Thats great! Keep collectin'!

[@AtypicalOffgridder]

This is exactly what I do here in New Hampshire. Free compost and leaf mold. Thank you for a great video.

[@edibleacres]

Glad you collect too!

[@AtypicalOffgridder]

@edibleacres I'm too frugal not to. Hahaha... I can't pass up potential, and I rarely throw anything away.

[@gardentours]

You always have such great idea 🌝👍

[@kangnanangsuudi81]

Good information,,, thanks you 🙏

[@HoboGardenerBen]

I love this :) Edit: Cool use for the conduit

[@edibleacres]

Yeah, those hoops are quite useful in a bunch of ways

[@sqeekable]

Oh , sweet, another garden area away from your street home?

[@Trundlebugg]

Every year I get so envious of your ready bagged leaves 😂😭 It’s also far too windy in my area to use them as top dressing, have to cover them with something for a few weeks till they break down and mesh together a bit first! Looks great! 😊

[@racebiketuner]

Another method is topping them with 6-12 inches of long pine needles. I tried it last year and it worked like a charm. This year I'm collecting all I can find. Sorry I can't tell you the variety of tree, but the needles are usually 8-11 inches long. I go looking for them in late fall/early winter after a very windy day.

[@edibleacres]

You can wait for a rainy moment to spread them and the rain helps settle in and pin things down...

[@barrypetejr5655]

I ended up with 4 tandem dump loads of mulched up leaves....which is about 4 less than normal....getting older ...time to cut back a little bit.....a friend took the other loads when he seen my soil enriched with composted leaves and how my vegetables and flowers grow....he jumped on the band wagon ☺️

[@edibleacres]

Thats an awesome hookup!

[@honeycaffena4897]

Kindred spirit, we are doing the same here in southeast Michigan. We are starting up a small blueberry orchard.

[@edibleacres]

Wishing you great success!

[@wingking077]

I use to collect my neighbors leaves until I found out they used pesticides and weed killer in their lawn. It was great because they were mulched up but mixed with grass clippings too. May not effect anything but made me feel uneasy.

[@HoboGardenerBen]

You could make a seperate pile and use them on decorative beds. Or make a pile and grow oyster mushrooms on them to help neutralize the crap in there and help it go back to the earth. No need to get a direct yield from it can always just help keep it out of the local network of gardens but close the loop with the wider ecosystem.

[@AceOklahoma]

That is a concern I hadn't considered. The biggest worry on my mind is the people who rake dog doo right in with the leaves.

[@edibleacres]

Yeah, if you know folks are using poisons its best to avoid. So far we haven't had any issues that we've observed but you never know I guess...

[@gardentours]

People also look at me when I collect leaves 😂 But it's for a good use 🌝

[@williammacintosh1742]

'We've all got a lot of wondering to do.' Bro you had me laughing! xD Love your videos :D

[@edibleacres]

So glad!

[@Offgridlee444]

Hi, new subscriber here! Great idea!

[@edibleacres]

Welcome and thanks for subscribing!

[@Offgridlee444]

@ Yw

[@seanrichardson881]

Thank you thank you thank you! Yes I feel weird picking up leaf bags but, you're right. They should feel weird for bagging them! Haha!😊

[@edibleacres]

We're all just parts of the ecosystem I guess :)

[@aibell4800]

You're lucky you have bags available. In our area the municipalities are transitioning to a system where people rake their leaves to the curb and a big vacuum truck comes to collect them. Now to find out where those leaves are going.... I'm suspecting they are using them to feed a composting facility.

[@edibleacres]

We are seeing more and more of what you describe but I'll take the bags for now! Yeah, track down where they are dumping em!

[@TaylorinShirewood]

In my experience, leaves tend to break up into soil/compost around June-July, depending on what kind of leaves you put down, mine were maple leaves, oak and some pine needles. My context was of a front yard that use to have a cherry laurel bush, english ivy with a gravel subsoil that wasn't cultivated in any way for 30-40 years. A really cheap, but excellent way to establish growing spaces but requires a lot of patience and knowing when to sow for those autumn brassicas, carrots etc when those leaves finally give way and break down into beautifully rich topsoil 👍

[@edibleacres]

Yep, you can accelerate if you shred or mix in compost, etc. Our chickens will work through the leaves and it will be mostly soil and finished compost by early spring...

[@TaylorinShirewood]

@@edibleacres Good to know, I don't have chickens but I have worms they will have to do.😆

[@Gabi-lt4mx]

Here we are....

[@MrRJS27]

I got some leaves with pachysandra in them, so you know what happens after that. But I stomped mine down more, which is what let it happen.

[@andrewsblendorio]

Do you find most of the leaf bags are filled with unshredded leaves? I invested the time to mulch my neighbors leaves with bagging push mower and have three large rings worth of leaves composting now. High quality product but a lot of time to generate that material.

[@Glickc1]

What are your thoughts on pesticide residue - or any not-bio-compatible residue - on the leaves? I went back and forth this season and couldn't make up my mind.

[@edibleacres]

I have not experienced any problems with that. Doesn't mean you shouldn't be concerned but I have not been and it has been OK

[@juliehorney995]

Anyone concerned about chemicals in the leaves? This would be from synthetic fertilizers and herbicides used on lawns underneath trees, soaking up through the roots. Also many lawns have fall applications of chemicals that could make contact with fallen leaves. We aren't concerned about leaves in our own yard due to organic practices.

[@racebiketuner]

Short answer: You are right to be concerned. Assume the worst and you'll do OK. Long answer: I am a small-scale composter (currently 13 yards in process) with a background in soil science. A large percentage of my input is fall leaves collected in a large city. I have learned to be very picky about what I collect. I examine the pile and the surrounding area closely before I bag it. One dead giveaway is a yard that looks like a putting green. If your piles are not getting hot for three days at a time, you also need to be concerned about weed seed. Especially the first week of collection when the amateurs are out in full force with their leaf blowers. IMO leaf contact with any residuals on the lawn are a small problem compared to what's lurking on the street next to the curb. The first rain washes a year's worth of automotive fluids and tire wear to this area and makes a very nasty soup. You really need to be mindful of incorporating any leaves that have soaked up this soup!

[@edibleacres]

I haven't seen any issues with all the years of doing it, but I also live in an area that isn't super chemmy generally. I think if you are collecting from a new neighborhood with perfect lawns and a clear sign of herbicide or pesticide use it isn't worth the risk...

[@blackwolf073]

I've been hoping to throw a bunch of leaves in my garden beds after mulching some up with the lawnmower. Its been raining though for closely 3 weeks. Lol whatta ya gonna? Im do? Im still hoping to if it stops raining before tje snow. Great video sean. Happy Sat.

[@HoboGardenerBen]

Rain days are perfect for putting down leaves because being wet keeps them from blowing around. No need to mow them first but it sure makes for a dense mulch coating to feed the soil nicely :)

[@blackwolf073]

@HoboGardenerBen thanks for the tip. 🙂👍

[@racebiketuner]

I've had that situation many times before. I store them in large (100-300 gallons) fabric pots and let let them dry as required in the spring.

[@edibleacres]

You can put them down whole in layers with some compost or other materials and it will break down decently over winter

[@blackwolf073]

@racebiketuner good idea.👍

[@juliehorney995]

Any evidence that a variety of leaves plus grass in compost varies the nutrients more than say a single type of leaf?

[@edibleacres]

Nope. Just intuition. Seems reasonable to me, but I'm certainly not making some big claims on it, just seems like a good thing to add diversity in general

[@rensspanjaard]

Are you writing a book already ??

[@edibleacres]

Nope. Won't do it most likely, but enjoying sharing our evolving project via video :)

[@sqeekable]

(Oh geez! Colin Farrell is who you remind me of, but the accent is wrong)